MOVIE REVIEW – Contagion
Contagion Director: Steven Soderbergh Writer: Scott Z. Burns Producers: Gregory Jacobs, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, Steven Soderbergh Stars: Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Ehle, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anna Jacoby-Heron, Elliott Gould, Sanaa Lathan, John Hawkes, Bryan Cranston, Chin Han Contagion works as a movie because it feels more than plausible; [...]
You like stars? I’ma give you EIGHT stars. How you like’a dat?
Last night I saw the final Harry Potter film, and once again appreciated that the Potter film franchise brought together an ultimate dream cast of British thespians. You wonder that the biggest challenge in a Potter film may not have been the preponderance of special effects required to realize J.K. Rowling’s world, but simply the [...]
How to Do ‘First Class’ screenwriting in a comic-book movie
(Full disclosure: I know a couple of the guys who wrote the script for X-Men: First Class. I’d feel the same way about their movie if I knew them or not, but part of the reason to write this is really to thank them for such a great piece of entertainment that could have gone [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Robots
Originally posted 3/25/05 Robots Director: Chris Wedge, with co-director Carlos Saldanha Writers: Screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire and Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel, based on a story by Ron Mita & Jim McClain and David Lindsay-Abaire Producer: Jerry Davis, John C. Donkin, William Joyce Featuring the voices of: Ewan MacGregor, Robin Williams, Mel Brooks, Greg Kinnear, [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Hostage
Originally posted 3/23/05 Hostage Director: Florent Siri Writer: Doug Richardson, based on the novel by Robert Crais Producers: Bruce Willis, Arnold Rifkin, Mark Gordon, Bob Yari Stars: Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, Jimmy Bennett, Michelle Horn, Ben Foster, Jonathan Tucker, Marshall Allman, Serena Scott Thomas, Rumer Willis, Kim Coates Hostage opens with a scene which is [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Be Cool
Originally published 3/13/05 Be Cool Director: F. Gary Gray Writer: Peter Steinfeld, based on the novel by Elmore Leonard Producers: Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacy Sher Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Cedric the Entertainer, The Rock, Christina Milian, Harvey Keitel, André Benjamin, Robert Pastorelli, Steven Tyler, James Woods The Hollywood cliché is known [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Cursed
Originally published March 9, 2005 Cursed Director: Wes Craven Writer: Kevin Williamson Producers: Kevin Williamson, Marianne Maddalena Stars: Christina Ricci, Jesse Eisenberg, Joshua Jackson, Judy Greer, Shannon Elizabeth, Mya, Kristina Anapau, Portia DiRossi, Milo Ventimiglia For over a generation, two minutes of film have hung in judgment over the entire horror sub-genre of werewolf movies. [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Constantine
Originally published 2/19/2005 Constantine Director: Francis Lawrence Writers: Story by Kevin Brodbin, Screenplay by Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello, based on the DC/Vertigo comic book Hellblazer Producers: Benjamin Melniker, Lauren Shuler Donner, Erwin Stoff, Michael E. Uslan, Lorenzo DiBonaventura, Akiva Goldsman Stars: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Djimon Hounsou, Shia LaBeouf, Max Baker, Pruitt Taylor Vince, [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Elektra
Originally published 2/7/2005 Elektra Director: Rob Bowman Writers: Zak Penn and Stu Zicherman & Raven Metzner, based on the comic book character created by Frank Miller and the movie character created by Mark Steven Johnson Producers: Arnon Milchan, Gary Foster, Avi Arad Stars: Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Kirsten Prout, Will Yun Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Terence [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Alone in the Dark
Originally published 2/3/2005 Alone in the Dark Director: Uwe Boll Writers: Elan Mastai, Michael Roesch, Peter Scheerer Producers: Shawn Williamson Stars: Christian Slater, Tara Reid, Stephen Dorff, Frank C. Turner, Mathew Walker I’m going to blow the lid off a major secret of movie critic-dom. Most critics, all rhetoric to the contrary, love movies like [...]